• Pop Culture
    • Movies
    • Television
    • Comic Books
    • Video Games
    • Toys & Collectibles
  • Features
    • News
    • Reviews
    • Articles and Opinions
    • Interviews
    • Exclusives
    • Flickering Myth Films
    • FMTV
  • About
    • About Flickering Myth
    • Write for Flickering Myth
    • Advertise on Flickering Myth
  • Socials
    • Facebook
    • YouTube
    • Bluesky
    • Instagram
    • Flipboard
    • Linktree
    • X
  • Terms
    • Terms of Use
    • Privacy Policy

Flickering Myth

Geek Culture | Movies, TV, Comic Books & Video Games

  • News
  • Reviews
  • Articles & Opinions
  • Write for Us
  • The Baby in the Basket

Ranking The Entire Halloween Franchise From Worst To Best

June 25, 2021 by Shaun Munro

8. Halloween II (2009)

Directed by Rob Zombie.
Starring Malcolm McDowell, Tyler Mane, Sheri Moon Zombie, Brad Dourif, Danielle Harris and Scout Taylor-Compton.

The sequel to Rob Zombie’s 2007 remake is infamous for putting the franchise on ice for almost a decade, delivering a sloppy mess of comically overwrought surreal imagery amid one of Michael Myers’ most yawn-inducing killing sprees yet.

Uneven though Zombie’s “original” movie was, it at least did a solid job of presenting a fresh, imposing riff on Myers, one which is taken to absurd levels this time around. With his homeless-chic attire and facial appearance bearing a suspicious similarity to Zombie himself, it naturally follows that the writer-director would have Myers kill and eat a dog sooner or later.

Largely transpiring two years after the events of the first film, H2 sees Myers escaping from custody following an hysterical sequence in which his ambulance collides with a cow. From this point, he’s guided on his rampage by an angelic vision of his mother (Sheri Moon Zombie), and because Zombie just can’t help himself, she’s of course accompanied by a mythological white horse. Zombie stages this with absolute sincerity and zero self-awareness for how embarrassingly on-the-nose it is.

Elsewhere Laurie (Scout Taylor-Compton) is now holed up with the Bracketts, and while Taylor-Compton certainly feels more at-home in the role, she’s again forced to spout plenty of inane dialogue and walk an ill balance between tortured and irritating. Danielle Harris also returns as Annie Brackett though does little of interest before being inevitably offed by Myers, while the low-key star of the show ends up being Brad Dourif as her Sheriff father. Dourif’s performance is tenacious and committed throughout, no more than in the devastating sequence where he discovers his daughter’s corpse; the heartbreak is palpable, and Dourif does a wonderful job in a movie that doesn’t remotely deserve him.

Sadly Malcolm McDowell isn’t served nearly as well this time around, with his Dr. Loomis pigeonholed into a cringe-worthy, cartoonish media whore stereotype, where he even ends up playing a scene opposite Weird Al Yankovic of all people (who he calls “Mr. Weird”, of course).

Almost the entire cast from top to bottom is regrettably saddled with dialogue offputting for either its crudeness or how eye-rollingly over-affected it is. And if that’s not enough, there’s plenty more over-baked psychoanalyses of Michael, again taking a journalistic, probing approach to the antagonist despite it contradicting the uncertain terror of the original Carpenter movie.

But worse than all these things is that Halloween II is simply boring. Not even the kills, shot with obnoxious shaky cam in poor lighting conditions as they are, can muster much interest, and whether you watch the theatrical edition or the Unrated cut, the ending is staggeringly lame (especially the latter one).

Not merely content to make a bad Halloween sequel, Rob Zombie dares to steer the franchise into pretentious territory.

Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★

Click below to continue on to the next page…

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

Filed Under: Articles and Opinions, Movies, Reviews, Shaun Munro Tagged With: Donald Pleasence, halloween, Halloween 2018, Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers, Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers, Halloween H20, Halloween II, Halloween III: Season of the Witch, Halloween Resurrection, Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers, jamie lee curtis, Michael Myers

FMTV – Watch Our Latest Video Here

WATCH OUR MOVIE NOW FOR FREE ON PRIME VIDEO!

YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE:

The Most Obscure and Underrated Slasher Movies of the 1980s

Ten Essential Films of the 1940s

The Best UK Video Nasties Of All Time

10 Great Cult 80s Movies You Need To See

The Most Overhated Modern Superhero Movies

What Will Amazon Do with James Bond?

7 Sci-Fi Horror Movie Hidden Gems You Have To See

The Essential One Man Army Action Movies

The Essential New French Extremity Movies

Forgotten Horror Movie Gems From 25 Years Ago

Top Stories:

Movie Review – Eddington (2025)

Movie Review – I Know What You Did Last Summer (2025)

Movie Review – Saint Clare (2025)

3 Spectacular Performances in James Gunn’s Superman That Stole The Movie

Comic Book Review – Zombie Tales: Complete Collection

First look at Samuel L. Jackson and Sylvester Stallone in Tulsa King season 3 as NOLA King gets series order

Meet the kombatants with Mortal Kombat II red band trailer and character posters

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 3 Episodes 1 & 2 Review

STREAM FREE ON PRIME VIDEO!

FEATURED POSTS:

Peeping Tom: A Voyeuristic Masterpiece of the Slasher Subgenre

American Psycho at 25: The Story Behind the Satirical Horror Classic

Crazy Cult 80s Movies You May Have Missed

Essential Gothic Horror Movies To Scare You Senseless

Our Partners

  • Pop Culture
    • Movies
    • Television
    • Comic Books
    • Video Games
    • Toys & Collectibles
  • Features
    • News
    • Reviews
    • Articles and Opinions
    • Interviews
    • Exclusives
    • Flickering Myth Films
    • FMTV
  • About
    • About Flickering Myth
    • Write for Flickering Myth
    • Advertise on Flickering Myth
  • Socials
    • Facebook
    • YouTube
    • Bluesky
    • Instagram
    • Flipboard
    • Linktree
    • X
  • Terms
    • Terms of Use
    • Privacy Policy

© Flickering Myth Limited. All rights reserved. The reproduction, modification, distribution, or republication of the content without permission is strictly prohibited. Movie titles, images, etc. are registered trademarks / copyright their respective rights holders. Read our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. If you can read this, you don't need glasses.


 

Flickering MythLogo Header Menu
  • News
  • Reviews
  • Articles & Opinions
  • Write for Us
  • The Baby in the Basket